


Optimism in the darkest of times

by Dusklatte



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: F/M, Love Confessions, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Romance, very slight "will they won't they" dynamic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-19
Updated: 2019-05-19
Packaged: 2020-03-08 03:05:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18885895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dusklatte/pseuds/Dusklatte
Summary: The Exalt had been caught by Plegia's mad king, and Ylisse was in danger.It was hardly the time to be talking about feelings for the two busiest members of the army.The others think otherwise.





	Optimism in the darkest of times

**Author's Note:**

> Me: *has two ongoing FE Fates fics, wants to get them finished before starting on something else*  
> Also me: *writes for Awakening because Chrobin*

The news had broken that Exalt Emmeryn had been captured by the Plegians, though spirits remained high in the Shepherds’ camp. There was optimism that she would be saved despite the dire odds. After all – they possessed three things which Gangrel did not: a determined leader, who wanted to save his sister; a skilled tactician who had succeeded in all battles since joining the group; and… Well, the very item which the war had been started over – the Fire Emblem.

But that didn’t mean that Emmeryn still couldn’t be killed by the Plegians. The Mad King was both cunning and deviant… He would likely turn to unconventional methods to try and get his way.

“So, umm… I’ve not been the only one who has noticed that something has been happening in the camp, right?” Lissa had gathered together a few of her friends and companions in the middle of the camp, and were sat around a campfire with a drink. “I’m talking about the way that Chrom and Robin are acting, by the way...”

A series of nods and noises of confirmation went around the table, followed by a slight cough from Frederick (he had reluctantly joined the group on Chrom’s orders – the prince wanted to talk tactics and train with Robin, and wanted to do so in privacy). “Must we _really_ talk about Milord behind his back, Milady?”

“Hey. You were the one who cursed our eyes with a drawing of Chrom _naked_ without telling him _,_ Frederick! So you’re a _bit_ of a hypocrite...” Lissa was grinning at the knight, before she turned to Maribelle, who had a raised eyebrow. “So, why don’t you tell everyone what you saw?”

The noblewoman nodded, and placed her cup of tea onto a saucer. “I shall, though I must say it shocked me. I witnessed Chrom leaving the bathing tent… Followed by a flustered Robin. I daresay, I do not know what had transpired, but the implications of what I witnessed are quite...” Maribelle shook her head as she trailed off. There were a few shocked reactions, but Maribelle decided that it would be best to continue speaking. “I don’t know if that means that something was going on, but… Chrom and Robin have the responsibility of the lives of _everyone_ in this army, Lady Emmeryn and the entirety of Ylisse on their shoulders. I wouldn’t blame them if they needed some respite, and they each believed that the other could provide it to them.”

_Needless to say, everyone – despite a mixture of unreciprocated feelings towards either prince or tactician – agreed._

 

* * *

* * *

* * *

 

Chrom’s eyes narrowed as he tightened his grasp of the iron sword he was training with, his gaze fixated on the woman standing in a similar position opposite him. He had taken to sparring with Robin to try and let out some of the pent-up emotions which were starting to plague his mind.

Constantly, he could see images of his older sister lying in the desert, on the verge of death. She would be whining in pain, calling out for her siblings… Before she would take her final breath with Gangrel standing over her corpse. Despite his hopes to rescue her, these images would knock his confidence greatly.

“Don’t let your guard down, Chrom… We don’t know whether we could be attacked by Plegians or Risen at any given moment!” Robin suddenly rushed at him, her sword making a noise which was painful to the ears as its brittle metal scraped over the top of his pauldron. “Ahem, _leader?”_

“H- Hey, don’t call me that, Robin...” He may have been looking, but he wasn’t aware. It only took being called ‘leader’ for him to regain his attention. He then realised that Robin had actually attacked him, which brought forth a small sigh. “I’m sorry, my mind isn't exactly with it at the moment...”

Robin nodded, and then gave him a slightly reassuring smile. “To be fair, it is quite hard to concentrate, given everything which is going on,” she began, before pulling her sword away and closing her eyes. “But… We can’t afford to be distracted. We have no clue whatsoever on when Gangrel will decide to execute Emmeryn, and already we’ve fought many battles in this gods forsaken desert.”

The pair remained silent as Robin took a few quick steps backward, and poised herself once more to attack. This time though, Chrom did his best to concentrate on her words, to make sure that he was ready for the next few moments of sparring. He had noticed that it was now her turn to falter, presumably because she was unsure of whether he had his heart in the training or not.

Taking a deep breath, he proceeded to lunge towards the tactician. She realised that he was approaching when he was more than half-way towards her, so she quickly pulled her sword up to deflect the blow.

It didn’t take long for Robin to pick up the strength difference between the two of them – she was having to use both of her hands to keep her sword steady, whilst Chrom was using one, and had her almost backed up against a dead tree. Gods, she wished that he knew of how incredible his strength was, and how lucky the Shepherds were to have him as a leader.

After a few moments, Chrom stopped when he realised that with the way Robin was holding her weapon, the blade was beginning to dig into the palm of her hand. There was a slight trail of blood beginning to drip down her wrist, and it seemed that she hadn’t even noticed.

His sword fell down to the ground with a thud, and he started to give Robin a wide-eyed stare of panic. “Gods, I- I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to...” He carefully removed her sword from her hands, and dropped it with his own as he pulled her hand into both of his.

_He’d never noticed before that point how much smaller her hands were when compared to his._

Robin shook her head when she noticed the cut, and smiled at him. “It isn’t too bad...”

“You’re bleeding, Robin!” Chrom then began pulling her towards the main area of the camp. “You should at least get a healer to look at it… I’ll… I’ll try to find Lissa, maybe...”

To try and give Chrom the chance to calm down, she agreed to find a healer with him, but only on the condition that he remained with her. She didn’t want to leave him alone at the moment, given how his emotions had been quite all over the place recently.

Eventually, the pair found Lissa, moments after her gathering with the other Shepherds had finished. Chrom ended up receiving a somewhat serious, somewhat teasing lecture about being careful when training.

During this time, both the prince and tactician were having a conversation through their eyes. Robin rolled hers, which led to Chrom raising one of his eyebrows. That was her calling Lissa silly, and him implying that perhaps it would be best to say that when the princess wasn’t there. This continued for a few minutes, until Robin gasped out loud at a bandage being wrapped rather tightly around her hand by Lissa, who had a blank stare on her face.

“So, uh… I was talking to everyone about you two before,” Lissa muttered, carefully adjusting the bandage so that Robin wouldn’t be in more pain. “It’s really nice how you two support each other… I don’t think I’ve ever seen Chrom so close to anyone,” she then finished with the bandage, and she started to smile quite widely. “But yeah… Everyone thinks that you two might be, you know, _a bit more than close?_ ”

Robin’s face turned bright red, and Chrom turned away as he covered his face with his hands. “Lissa _, please!_ We- we’re great friends and-”

“Let me finish, big brother!” Lissa then pouted, and looked between the flustered duo. “Everyone says that they would support you two, if you become a thing. Not that we’re saying you _have_ to, but… You two are really good for each other.”

There was an awkward silence then, as Lissa finished tending to Robin’s hand, before she made her presence scarce. The pair made a few awkward glances at one another, and as soon as their eyes would meet, they would look away again.

Robin was the one who broke the silence. “Hah… I’m sure that Lissa was teasing us because of how tense we seemed...” She shook her head, and laughed awkwardly. “Don’t you, um...” _Her thoughts had gone to the fact that she actually did like Chrom. Had done ever since the day he met her – and said that he would trust her, despite everything about her being suspicious._ “Don’t you agree?”

Chrom remained silent for a moment, his thoughts also betraying him. But he knew that if he spoke, his mouth would betray him too.

_Yes, so he may have somewhat liked the woman, may or may not have enjoyed seeing her during the bathing incidents, and relied upon her being his rock when things were tough…_

With a sigh, Chrom moved to stand next to Robin, and began to look at the flames of the campfire. His fingers carefully wove themselves between the fingers of her injured hand, giving a slight reassuring squeeze when she looked at him with concerned eyes.

“I don’t… I don’t think that Lissa was teasing, Robin…” His face turned a flushed shade of pink. “My sisters can read me like an open book.”

“Your sisters...” Robin trailed off, thinking about what he was implying by his words. “Has… Emmeryn brought this up before now too?”

 

* * *

* * *

* * *

 

_Chrom was busy preparing to make sure that both he and the Shepherds were prepared to escort the exalt away from the capital temporarily. His preparations mostly consisted of training with Frederick, whereas the organisation of routes and supplies fell on the shoulders of Robin and Phila._

_The knight had been the first one to spot the Exalt as she approached to speak with her brother, leading to the prince getting highly confused at Frederick lowering his weapon and bowing._

_“Good morning Sir Frederick, Chrom… It is nice to know that both of you are dedicating yourselves towards being prepared for any combat we may be forced into when we travel. I feel confident in trusting our lives in your capable hands...” Emmeryn’s words were what brought Chrom’s attention towards her. “I apologise for interrupting your session, but I wish to speak with my brother for a few minutes. Perhaps you could go to see how Lissa is faring in her preparations, Sir Frederick?”_

_Once Frederick had nodded and left the courtyard, Emmeryn gestured for Chrom to follow her towards a bench positioned towards the edge of the yard. When the pair sat down, Chrom began to ask questions._

_“Emm… You don’t often interrupt my sparring sessions, because you believe that combat shouldn’t be the answer wherever possible… Is something bothering you?”_

_Emmeryn smiled, and shook her head. “No, Chrom. I just wish to talk to you about something. Your tactician – Robin… You appear to trust her greatly, as both a friend and an ally, despite her uncertain origins bothering others.”_

_“Yes… I can trust her with my life. She is… incredible. I don’t even know if either of us would be here right now if not for her…”_

_“I am so happy that you can act in such a way, Chrom. I trust your judgement of her too.” Emmeryn then looked up at the skies, her smile softening. “Also… I must ask something more about you both. You do not need to answer me, it is just something which I have noticed, and feel that you might want to think about. Do you happen to see Robin as more than a friend and ally?”_

_That question had been on Chrom’s mind ever since._


End file.
